Sub-Roman Britain (Cavalry etc)

[Ron Andrea]

Certainly the departure of the named and numbered legions did not mean that every Roman soldier and administrator departed early in the fifth century. The visits of Germanus of Auxerre in 429 and maybe 440 indicated that some aspect of Roman life had persisted. With the rising German threat and perhaps tension, if not warfare, among the Britons, it's hardly a stretch to conclude that the Britons had, as urged by Honorius, seen to their own defenses.

My question a short while ago was to what extent that defense would have included mounted warriors and how those warriors might have been equipped, trained and organized. They could hardly have been eastern-style Cataphracts much less "knights in shining armor," but might they have shown some semblance of western Roman practice? If so, how might they have prolonged the twilight of the Britons? Even to the point of moderating the outcome? (I mean that in the sense that the Saxons seeped across Britain over the course of several centuries, unlike the single-generation Frank conquest of Gallia.)

Dealing with this period guarantees much uncertainty, but that's half the fun: unlike so much of history, so little is cut and dried.